Damper for a door handle

ABSTRACT

The door handle assembly includes a door handle which pivots about a pivot axis. A molded-in gear rack is formed on the door handle. The gears of the molded-in gear rack mesh with gears of a rotational damper so that the door handle pivots in concert with the rotation of the gears of the rotational damper. Furthermore, the rotational damper is generally cylindrical and further includes two pairs of radially outwardly extending wings. The rotational damper passes through an aperture in a damper support plate and the first pair of radially outwardly extending wings engage a first side of the damper support plate and engage or abut detent elements. The second pair of radially outwardly extending wings engage a second side of the damper support plate and limit the insertion of the damper through the damper support plate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention pertains to damper for a door handle. Moreparticularly, the present invention provides a molded-in gear rack onthe pivoting component of the door handle and a fluid gear dampersnapped into a boss on the housing of the door handle. Furthermore, thegear damper includes a rib configuration which allows the gear damper tobe rotated one-quarter turn to engage the door handle housing.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] The use of cylindrical dampers mounted on the hinges ofautomotive door handles and similar applications is known in the priorart. However, such a damper is typically relatively large in order toprovide the surface area needed to dampen the strong spring force in thedoor handle because it is mounted on the hinge and experiences themaximum torque from the spring.

[0005] These prior art dampers have similarly been bulky to package.Moreover, it has been somewhat difficult to calculate the expectedclosing time of the handle and any variation of this closing timetypically was achieved by changing the surface area of the damper, whichfurther affects the size of the damper and can require a substantialredesign of the damper. Finally, the dampers have typically requiredseveral steps for installation which is of concern during assembly-lineor automated manufacture.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a damperfor an automotive door handle or similar application which is relativelycompact.

[0007] It is therefore a further object of this invention to provide adamper for an automotive door handle or similar application which issimple to package.

[0008] It is therefore a still further object of this invention toprovide a damper for an automotive door handle or similar applicationfor which the expected closing time is relatively simple to calculate.

[0009] It is therefore a still further object of this invention toprovide a damper for an automotive door handle or similar applicationwherein the required redesign to vary the expected closing time of thedoor is minimized.

[0010] It is therefore a still further object of this invention toprovide a damper for an automotive door handle or similar applicationwherein the damper can be simply assembled and installed.

[0011] These and other objects are attained by providing a damper for anautomotive door handle or similar application which includes a molded-ingear rack on the pivoting mechanism of the door handle and a fluid geardamper which is snapped into a boss on the housing of the door handle.The gear on the damper is of the same pitch as the molded-in gear rackand the pitch circles are tangent.

[0012] The gear damper is a one-quarter turn viscous door handle geardamper. During assembly, the damper is placed through the molded openingin the door handle housing and turned one-quarter turn. Lower ribs onthe damper housing contact the back side of the door handle housing andtop ramped ribs on the damper housing are forced over bumps molded onthe top surface of the door handle housing. The damper locks intoposition by the top ramped ribs being forced over the bumps. Afterinstallation, the damper gear meshes with a gear rack molded to the backof the pivoting handle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Further objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the following description and claims, and from theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

[0014]FIG. 1 is a perspective drawing of the door handle assembly of thepresent invention.

[0015]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the damper assembly housing of thepresent invention.

[0016]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the planar damper support platewhich engages the damper assembly housing of the present invention.

[0017]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the damper assembly housingengaged within the planar damper support plate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0018] Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like numeralsrefer to like elements throughout the several views, one sees that FIG.1 is a perspective view of the door handle assembly 10 of the presentinvention, as viewed outwardly from the interior of the automotive doorpanel (not shown). Door handle assembly 10 includes exterior plate 12which is typically nearly flush with the exterior or exposed surface ofthe automotive door. The remaining elements of FIG. 1 are within theinterior of the automotive door. A handle recess is formed on theexterior of the automotive door by inwardly extending wall 16 whichmeets upper and lower oblique walls 18, 20 and upper support wall 22.Slot 24 is formed on upper oblique wall 18 and upper support wall 22inwardly adjacent from inwardly extending wall 16. Likewise, slot 26 isformed parallel to slot 24 at an end of walls 18, 20, 22. Pivot support28 extends upwardly inwardly extending wall 16. Likewise, pivot support30 extends upwardly from an unillustrated wall which bounds the handlerecess. Pivot supports 28, 30 provide pivots 32, 34 which form a pivotaxis therebetween upon which arms 36, 38 of door handle 40 arejournalled for rotation. Handle grip (not shown, but would be visible byviewing FIG. 1 from the opposite direction) is integrally formed witharms 36, 38 and spans between arms 36, 38 within the handle recessformed by walls 16, 18, 20, 22.

[0019] Gear rack 42 is molded into distal surface 44 of arm 38. Theextent of gear rack 42 is formed equidistantly from pivot 34. That is,the extent of gear rack 42 is a portion of a circle. Gear rack 42engages circular gear 46 of circular damper 48. Circular damper 48 isengaged within aperture 50 formed within planar damper support plate 52.The circular gear 46 of circular damper 48 is of the same pitch as thegears of gear rack 42, and the pitch circles of circular gear 46 and thegears of gear rack 42 are tangent. Arm 38 therefore pivots in concertwith the rotation of circular gear 46 by the meshing of gear rack 42with circular gear 46. Further, the molded-in gear rack 42 provides aradius from the pivot 34 that decreases the tangential force on thecircular damper 48. The closing time of the door handle 40 can be easilycalculated and modified by changing the pitch diameter of the molded-ingear rack 42 rather than changing the surface area of the circulardamper 48 which would affect the size of circular damper 48.

[0020] Housing 51 of circular damper 48 is shown in FIG. 2 while planardamper support plate 52 is shown in FIG. 3 and the assembled circulardamper 48 on planar damper support plate 52 is shown in FIG. 4.

[0021] Housing 51 of circular damper 48 includes a cylindrical portion56 of a first diameter, and a cylindrical mouth 58 of an increasedsecond diameter. Toroidal wall 57 joins cylindrical portion 56 tocylindrical mouth 58 and cylindrical wall 59 extends upwardly fromtoroidal wall 57 forming inner circular lip 61. Upper ramped ribs 60, 62extend radially outward from the top of cylindrical mouth 58 and lowerramped rib 64 (along with an unillustrated lower ramped rib spaced 180°about the periphery of cylindrical mouth 58 from lower ramped rib 64).The distance between the lower surface of upper ramped ribs 60, 62 andthe upper surface of lower ramped ribs 64 as measured parallel to thelongitudinal axis of circular damper 48 is equal to the thickness ofplanar damper support plate 52 so that ribs 60, 62, 64 serve tolongitudinally position circular damper within aperture 50 as shown inFIG. 4.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 3, planar damper support plate 52 includesaperture 50 of the second diameter (that is, to allow cylindrical mouth58 of damper housing 51 to pass therethrough) which further includesdiametrically opposed radially outwardly extending wing openings 54, 56which are shaped to allow upper ramped ribs 60, 62 to pass therethrough.Hemispherical detent bump 66 and cylindrical stop 68 are formed on aplanar surface of planar damper support plate 52 immediately outwardlyadjacent from aperture 50.

[0023] To assemble circular damper 48 with planar damper support plate52, cylindrical mouth 58 of damper housing 51 is passed through aperture52 with upper ramped ribs 60, 62 passing through diametrically opposedradially outwardly extending wing openings 54, 56. Lower ramped ribs 64limit the insertion of circular damper 48 through aperture 50 so thatthe lower surface of upper ramped ribs 60, 62 engage or urge against theupper surface of planar damper support plate 52. The installer thenrotates circular damper 48 approximately one-quarter turn so that one ofupper ramped ribs 60, 62 passes over hemispherical detent bump 66 andlocks in position, and another of upper ramped ribs 60, 62 abutscylindrical stop 68. Upper ramped ribs 60, 62 are ramped on their lowersurface such that the upper ramped ribs 60, 62 can pass overhemispherical detent bump 66 to enter the locked position, but cannoteasily pass back over hemispherical detent bump 66 to move out of thelocked position. Circular damper 48 is thereby locked into the positionillustrated in FIG. 4.

[0024] Thus the several aforementioned objects and advantages are mosteffectively attained. Although a single preferred embodiment of theinvention has been disclosed and described in detail herein, it shouldbe understood that this invention is in no sense limited thereby and itsscope is to be determined by that of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A door handle assembly comprising: a bodyincluding pivot points; a door handle pivoting on said pivot points,said door handle further including a gear rack; a damper engaged to saidbody, including a rotational gear engaging said gear rack whereby saidrotational gear rotates in concert with pivoting of said door handle. 2.The door handle assembly of claim 1 wherein said gear rack is formedequidistantly from one of said pivot points.
 3. The door handle assemblyof claim 2 wherein said gear rack is formed integrally with said doorhandle.
 4. The door handle assembly of claim 3 wherein a pitch of saidgear rack is equal to a pitch of said rotational gear.
 5. The doorhandle assembly of claim 4 further including a damper support plateengaging said body, said damper support plate further including anaperture for engaging said rotational damper.
 6. The door handleassembly of claim 5 wherein said aperture is generally circular andincludes radially outwardly extending openings; and wherein saidrotational damper includes a cylindrical portion with a first pair ofradially extending ribs which pass through said radially extendingopenings and a second pair of radially extending ribs which limit theinsertion of said rotational damper through said damper support plate.7. The door handle assembly of claim 6 wherein said second pair ofradially extending ribs is longitudinally and rotationally offset fromsaid first pair of radially extending ribs.
 8. The door handle assemblyof claim 7 wherein detent elements are formed on a surface of saiddamper support plate outwardly adjacent from said aperture for engagingsaid first pair of radially extending ribs.
 9. The door handle assemblyof claim 8 wherein said detent elements include a hemisphericalprotrusion and a cylindrical stop.
 10. The door handle assembly of claim9 wherein a face of said first pair of radially extending ribs facingsaid second pair of radially extending ribs is ramped whereby at leastone of said first pair of radially extending ribs can pass relativelyfreely over said hemispherical protrusion in a first direction ofrotation but cannot pass relatively freely over said hemisphericalprotrusion in a second direction of rotation opposite from said firstdirection of rotation.
 11. The door handle assembly of claim 10 whereina longitudinally measured distance between said first pair of radiallyextending ribs and said second pair of radially extending ribs is equalto a thickness of said damper support plate.
 12. A rotational damperassembly including: a rotational damper with a cylindrical body of afirst diameter; a damper support plate including an aperture of saidfirst diameter further including radially outwardly extending openings;and wherein said cylindrical body of said rotational damper furtherincludes a first pair of radially extending ribs which pass through saidradially extending openings and a second pair of radially extending ribswhich limit the insertion of said rotational damper through said dampersupport plate.
 13. The rotational damper assembly of claim 12 whereinsaid second pair of radially extending ribs is longitudinally androtationally offset from said first pair of radially extending ribs. 14.The rotational damper assembly of claim 13 wherein detent elements areformed on a surface of said damper support plate outwardly adjacent fromsaid aperture for engaging said first pair of radially extending ribs.15. The rotational damper assembly of claim 14 wherein said detentelements include a hemispherical protrusion and a cylindrical stop. 16.The rotational damper assembly of claim 15 wherein a face of said firstpair of radially extending ribs facing said second pair of radiallyextending ribs is ramped whereby at least one of said first pair ofradially extending ribs can pass relatively freely over saidhemispherical protrusion in a first direction of rotation but cannotpass relatively freely over said hemispherical protrusion in a seconddirection of rotation opposite from said first direction of rotation.17. The rotational damper assembly of claim 16 wherein a longitudinallymeasured distance between said first pair of radially extending ribs andsaid second pair of radially extending ribs is equal to a thickness ofsaid damper support plate.